Alphabet associations - I

[rubbernecker]

rubbernecker - hold your horses! no-one's won yet - I still need to know the quartet and the identity of the "U"....

What, you mean the torture continues? That's it, I'm going to get my coat and grab some lunch.

[subcontrabass]

... and betweenthestaves is also right that the city is Turin...

King Umberto I of Italy was born in Turin and murdered in Monza.

[vinteuil]

King Umberto I of Italy was born in Turin and murdered in Monza.

subcontrabass has got the key element... should be easy from here to get a fraternal quartet...

[BetweenTheStaves]

There is The String Quartet Feguš . They are all brothers but I can't find a link to U

I even tried looking for a String Quartet of monks....because fraternal does not have to be sibling oriented!

EDIT 2 ...and there's the Muller Brothers String Quartet

[vinteuil]

betweenthestaves - a quartet is not necessarily the performers...

[vinteuil]

congratulations, hercule!

to sum up:

1.) the car city is Turin, headquarters of Fiat (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino)
2.) the circuit is the Formula 1/Italian Grand Prix autodromo nazionale di Monza
3.) the quartet is "Crisantemi" composed by Puccini in 1890 as an Elegy "alla memoria di Amadeo di Savoia Duca d'Aosta"

and the U is Umberto, King of Italy, born Turin 14 March 1844, assassinated Monza 29 July 1900,
brother of Amadeo di Savoia, in honour of whom Puccini composed his only quartet.

Amadeo was by all accounts a pretty unattractive personality, and, briefly, a not very successful King of Spain (Nov 1870 - abdicated Feb 1873). I like the trivia connected with his wedding day (to Donna Maria Vittoria) - which was marred by the following tragic events:
The best man shot himself.
The Palace Gatekeeper slit his throat.
The King's aide died after falling from his horse.
The bride's wardrobe mistress hanged herself.
The colonel leading the wedding procession collapsed from sunstroke.
The stationmaster was crushed to death under the wheels of the honeymoon train.

It was said of him that he was neither very intelligent nor very cultivated, and not well-liked by his Spanish subjects. For instance, legend has it that once, whilst he was going for a drive around Madrid in his carriage, his secretary pointed out that the house they where passing by was that of the famous writer Miguel de Cervantes, upon which he replied that "Well, if he is so famous, even though he has not come to see me yet, I'll pay him a visit soon". Cervantes had died 200 years earlier...

Quite why Puccini wrote his little masterpiece for him is unclear...

[Don Petter]

seeing as I just turned up at the last minute when everybody else had done the hard work I think 'they' should concoct the V question

You're fully entitled to, though if you want to pass it I think scb got three of the four elements, albeit they were the three non-musical ones! (Should the musical content be higher? Not a complaint, just a musing.)

[Don Petter]

There is The String Quartet Feguš . They are all brothers but I can't find a link to U

I even tried looking for a String Quartet of monks....because fraternal does not have to be sibling oriented!

EDIT 2 ...and there's the Muller Brothers String Quartet

I found that the Danel Quartet has two brothers, on violin and 'cello, but they do seem to be Belgian, so probably wouldn't have counted on that alone ...


Oops. French, but based in Brussels since 1991, and in 2005 took over from the Lindsays as University of Manchester quartet-in-residence. So they came good in the end.

[Don Petter]

no thanks!

I think it's over to scb then. I've got a V but am happy to wait for the next alphabetic cycle, particularly as none of my ramblings held any water.

[vinteuil]

seeing as I just turned up at the last minute when everybody else had done the hard work I think 'they' should concoct the V question

well - betweenthestaves found "Turin" and "Monza" ; subcontrabass found the U which was Umberto ; and hercule found "crisantemi"

As the form of the question is "What U... " I think probably subcontrabass should go for the V question?

[subcontrabass]

As the form of the question is "What U... " I think probably subcontrabass should go for the V question?

I am working on it.

[subcontrabass]

Try this:

What V links an English playwright, a decapitated monarch, and a female composer?

[BetweenTheStaves]

V as in Very tricky! Thought I was onto something as Anne Boleyn was Queen and beheaded. She was also down in an alleged list of female composers but can see no evidence of her work. So currently stumped.

EDIT: Richard III was beheaded. Shakespeare wrote a play Richard III. Am I on the right track?

[subcontrabass]

V as in Very tricky! Thought I was onto something as Anne Boleyn was Queen and beheaded. She was also down in an alleged list of female composers but can see no evidence of her work. So currently stumped.

EDIT: Richard III was beheaded. Shakespeare wrote a play Richard III. Am I on the right track?

Right playwright, wrong play.

[subcontrabass]

is the decapitated monarch British or foreign, please?

British